For the past several months I have been thinking about Liu Xiaobo, the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize recipient. Liu, who according to his Wikipedia entry is a Chinese literary critic, writer, professor, and human rights activist who called for democratic reforms and the end of communist one-party rule in China. He is a co-author and one of over 350 Chinese intellectuals and Human Rights activists who signed a document called Charter 08 in China. It was published on December 10, 2008, on the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since then, over 10,000 people in and outside of China have signed it.
The opening paragraph of the document reads:
This year is the 100th year of China's Constitution, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 30th anniversary of the birth of the Democracy Wall, and the 10th year since China signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. After experiencing a prolonged period of human rights disasters and a tortuous struggle and resistance, the awakening Chinese citizens are increasingly and more clearly recognizing that freedom, equality, and human rights are universal common values shared by all humankind, and that democracy, a republic, and constitutionalism constitute the basic structural framework of modern governance. A "modernization" bereft of these universal values and this basic political framework is a disastrous process that deprives humans of their rights, corrodes human nature, and destroys human dignity.
The Chinese government detained Liu for the two days leading up to the document's release, and then arrested him in June 2009 for inciting subversion. In December 2009, he received an 11 year prison sentence for the before mentioned charge, his fourth prison term.
In October 2010, Liu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Liu was once a well-placed intellectual within Chinese society. He gained prominence in the mid 1980’s as a literary critic with provocative intellectual ideas. Widely respected, he was invited to speak all over China and abroad. His writings, while sharp, stayed within the accepted confines of discourse of criticism. All that changed in June 1989 in Tiananmen Square.
Liu was in New York speaking at Columbia University when the pro-democracy movement broke out in China. He returned to his homeland and spent most of his time in Tiananmen Square talking to the students. Liu and three others negotiated with Chinese soldiers, enabling hundreds of student to leave the square. As we know, others were not as fortunate and an unknown number of people ranging from 300 to 3,000 died at the hands of the Chinese military. This event changed Liu. He could longer stay within the confines of acceptable action and criticism to advance his goals of democracy and peace. He, as academic and China specialist Jean Philip Beja wrote for Amnesty International, “… affirms his intention to live in truth….he rejects any form of compromise with the government and stands by his principles.”
For this Liu Xiaobo and his wife, Liu Xia, who is under house arrest, pay a heavy price.
When I think of the Nobel Peace Prize, I think of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Lech Walesa and the missing laureate Mahatma Gandhi. (Believe it or not Gandhi never won the prize though nominated five times. ) I think of these people not only because of their obvious impact on the world, but also because of the paths they took. Like Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu and now like Liu, these great figures did not compromise. King, Mandela, Tutu, Walesa and Liu stood fast in the face of governments and oppressive structures and Mother Teresa battled disease poverty and indifference. Their influence on humanity is immeasurable, as is the personal consequences each accepted in making their decisions to struggle for the everyday people. They are the ultimate examples of personal sacrifice, risking their very lives.
This is in sharp contrast to other laureates like Henry Kissinger, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman and Barack Obama; all recipients who won the award in the course of doing their political duties, in the confines of what was acceptable while walking halls of power. Much gained with little sacrifice.
Last October when President Obama was awarded the Nobel, I told a friend that peace activists need more. We need more than we have seen from the President. We need hope that is evidenced in deed and not words. We are motivated by clear action against the evils that pull humanity apart and allow for fear, death and destruction due to war and indifference. Our champions of peace do not compromise their principles. They are pragmatic and thoughtful in their actions, but fearless and self-sacrificial in the pursuit of their vision.
In my eyes to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize, one must be more than a promoter of peace; you must be a champion of peace.
In the words of Liu Xiaob, "I dedicate this prize to all those lost souls who have sacrificed their lives in non-violent struggle for peace, democracy and freedom."
For the past several months I have been thinking about Liu Xiaobo, the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize recipient. Liu, who according to his Wikipedia entry is a Chinese literary critic, writer, professor, and human rights activist who called for democratic reforms and the end of communist one-party rule in China. He is a co-author and one of over 350 Chinese intellectuals and Human Rights activists who signed a document called Charter 08 in China. It was published on December 10, 2008, on the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since then, over 10,000 people in and outside of China have signed it.
The opening paragraph of the document reads:
This year is the 100th year of China's Constitution, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 30th anniversary of the birth of the Democracy Wall, and the 10th year since China signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. After experiencing a prolonged period of human rights disasters and a tortuous struggle and resistance, the awakening Chinese citizens are increasingly and more clearly recognizing that freedom, equality, and human rights are universal common values shared by all humankind, and that democracy, a republic, and constitutionalism constitute the basic structural framework of modern governance. A "modernization" bereft of these universal values and this basic political framework is a disastrous process that deprives humans of their rights, corrodes human nature, and destroys human dignity.
The Chinese government detained Liu for the two days leading up to the document's release, and then arrested him in June 2009 for inciting subversion. In December 2009, he received an 11 year prison sentence for the before mentioned charge, his fourth prison term.
In October 2010, Liu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Liu was once a well-placed intellectual within Chinese society. He gained prominence in the mid 1980’s as a literary critic with provocative intellectual ideas. Widely respected, he was invited to speak all over China and abroad. His writings, while sharp, stayed within the accepted confines of discourse of criticism. All that changed in June 1989 in Tiananmen Square.
Liu was in New York speaking at Columbia University when the pro-democracy movement broke out in China. He returned to his homeland and spent most of his time in Tiananmen Square talking to the students. Liu and three others negotiated with Chinese soldiers, enabling hundreds of student to leave the square. As we know, others were not as fortunate and an unknown number of people ranging from 300 to 3,000 died at the hands of the Chinese military. This event changed Liu. He could longer stay within the confines of acceptable action and criticism to advance his goals of democracy and peace. He, as academic and China specialist Jean Philip Beja wrote for Amnesty International, “… affirms his intention to live in truth….he rejects any form of compromise with the government and stands by his principles.”
For this Liu Xiaobo and his wife, Liu Xia, who is under house arrest, pay a heavy price.
When I think of the Nobel Peace Prize, I think of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Lech Walesa and the missing laureate Mahatma Gandhi. (Believe it or not Gandhi never won the prize though nominated five times. ) I think of these people not only because of their obvious impact on the world, but also because of the paths they took. Like Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu and now like Liu, these great figures did not compromise. King, Mandela, Tutu, Walesa and Liu stood fast in the face of governments and oppressive structures and Mother Teresa battled disease poverty and indifference. Their influence on humanity is immeasurable, as is the personal consequences each accepted in making their decisions to struggle for the everyday people. They are the ultimate examples of personal sacrifice, risking their very lives.
Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Poland President Lech Walesa and U.S. President Barack Obama
